Lopez’s presence was a sign his recovery is progressing. His absence through all nine of the Nets’ games has highlighted what a vital component to the club’s machinery he has been over the past three seasons, during which the fourth-year center did not miss a game.

The Nets are 2-7 through a frantic stretch to start the season, and frustration began to boil over after the Miami Heat romped through the Prudential Center on Saturday night — with the Nets’ failing offense the target of pointed comments.

In a 101-90 loss to the Heat, the Nets offense sputtered through another slow start — with just 35 points in the first half — and ultimately another depressing evening.

“Our offense (stinks),” Deron Williams, who missed a game last week with a ribs injury, said after the Nets shot 33.7 percent with 22 turnovers Saturday. “We’re not very good right now. We’re not playing good. We’re not shooting good. I’m not shooting good. We’re turning the ball over.

“I like the offense. I like the system, I just think we’re not executing good, we’re not finishing, we’re not hitting shots, messing up plays, not in the right spots.”

The point guard’s statement is underscored by the stat sheet.

The Nets are shooting a league-worst 38.1 percent from the field. Their average of 85.44 points per game would be a league worst if not for the Detroit Pistons.

“We can’t live on shooting 33 percent to 38 percent from the field every night,” Nets coach Avery Johnson said Saturday after the Nets shot below 40 percent in a game for the seventh time this season.

Johnson and the Nets have been handicapped considerably by Lopez’s injury. Johnson had been counting on the interaction between Lopez and Williams on offense to score points and create opportunities for the Nets’ talented long-range shooters.

“We want our 3-point shooters to keep on shooting. That’s a big weapon for us,” Johnson said, lamenting that a perceived strength in the preseason has yielded the No. 20 3-point shooting percentage in the NBA.

Without Lopez, the Nets are without their only proven low-post scorer. His absence has hurt their continuity and consistency, and rendered the Nets one-dimensional prey to intelligent defenses such as Miami’s.

The Nets have used six starting lineups in nine games, and due to injuries no player has started every game, leading to upheaval in the rotation. Guard Anthony Morrow said teammates are still adjusting to one another.

Spacing, a subtle but key component of offense, comes as a result of familiarity and repetition, Morrow said, and the Nets have had neither time nor a full complement of players to achieve a level of comfort.

Lopez will return in a month, if the estimate of Nets physicians is accurate. But life without Lopez continues tonight against the Atlanta Hawks, the fifth-stingiest defense in the NBA.